The singing spouses

The West Kowloon Cultural District brought good news as the Year of the Rat kicked off.

The Xiqu Centre's experimental Cantonese opera Wenguang Explores the Valley was awarded Best Play in the Contemporary Small Theatre - Xiqu category at the Fourth Beijing New Arts and Culture Outstanding Theatre Showcase series. Keith Lai, the opera's co-playwright and codirector, who also stars in the production, won the Best Actor award for his outstanding performance.

Produced by the Performing Arts of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority's head of Xiqu, Naomi Chung, with Janet Wong codirecting, the accolades the work received is an affirmation of the high standard set by Cantonese opera in Hong Kong. Locals will be able to enjoy the play when it is staged at the Xiqu Centre in October.

The chairman of the Xiqu Centre's advisory panel, Frankie Yeung Wai-shing, who also used to be a Chinese Opera Advisory Committee member, said one unique feature of opera singer training in Hong Kong is personal style.

This has been the case since the time of early Cantonese opera virtuosos like Yam Kim-fai, Lam Ka-sing and Mak Bing-wing, who all had distinctive vocal styles, he notes. This contrasts with training in the mainland, where more emphasis is placed on uniformity.

Over the years, Yeung, who works in the insurance sector, has taken up many public duties. After a six-year term on the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts council, he was recently appointed vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Art Development Council.

An art and singing aficionado, Yeung trained under Cantonese opera master Chan Siu-fung. Dubbed "tian wang xiao sheng," Chan enjoys high acclaim in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau, with his most famous number being "Shan Bo Lin Zhong."

Yeung's wife, Teresa Cheung Tak-lan, is a famous singer with many highly popular TV drama theme songs to her name. Asked whether he plans to perform a duet on television with his better half, Yeung laughs and says that as Cheung is a superb singer, he refrains from singing at home. In fact, when Cheung receives invitations to go stage, he tries to turn them down as much as possible because she prepares meticulously for performances.

Siu Sai-wo is publisher of Sing Tao Daily